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Once again, cosmetic chemists ended the year on a positive note when they gathered in New York City to participate in the Society of Cosmetic Chemists Annual Scientific Meeting and Technology Showcase. The event, held last month, featured more than 20 scientific podium presentations and nearly 100 poster presentations from dozens of industry suppliers.

But in his opening remarks, SCC chairman Randy Wickett noted that 2011 was an especially difficult time for the Society, due to the passing of its longtime executive director Theresa Cesario, who served the SCC for 31 years.

“It’s been a really tough year; Terry’s passing was a great loss,” said Wickett, who pointed out that the meeting’s annual awards luncheon has been renamed “The Theresa Cesario Awards Luncheon.”

Wickett also reminded the audience that the Society will host the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) 29th Congress in 2016 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Finally, Wickett pointed out that even in a slow growth economy, the Annual Scientific Meeting and Technology Showcase continues to expand. He credited the growth to an exceptional program developed by the Committee on Scientific Affairs, which was chaired by Karl Lintner of Kal’Idees.

The opening session, moderated by Howard Epstein, EMD Chemicals, began with a keynote address by Robert S. Langer of MIT, who delighted the audience with a presentation on biomaterials and biotechnology, which, he explained, have broad applications in cosmetics as well as medical fields. In the later, Langer’s team designed a new family of synthetic, degradable polymers to treat brain cancer. A similar concept is behind the development of drug-eluding stents. Now, the team at MIT is building biological scaffolding to create synthetic ears and other body parts to treat wounded soldiers. But Langer’s work has more plebian applications for the personal care industry.

Randy Wickett and deNavarre Medal winner Howard I. Maibach.

“My hope is that what we do in the medical field, crosses over into cosmetics,” explained Langer, who has developed a hair care system based on polyfluoroesters, that, he maintained, do a better job than silicones at keeping hair frizz-free.

Biological activity was the subject of a presentation by Lintner, who provided three examples of this fast-growing concept and its application in cosmetics. For example, a lip treatment contained a novel peptide (Pal-KMO2K) that stimulates Collagen I, III, IV and fibronectin synthesis in normal human fibroblasts. The formula increased lip moisture, tissue firmness and density.

“Makeup with biological activity is new and presents challenges,” concluded Lintner. “It requires good understanding of physiology of the skin.”

Thomas Rudolph of Merck KGaA explained how functionalized vitamin C derivatives are used to deliver stable color or ultraviolet protection to hair fibers. These materials enable chemists to create mild treatments due to their inherent antioxidant function and their absence of hydrogen peroxide. In addition, according to Rudolph, they help eliminate greasiness and an unpleasant smell.

The session’s final presenter was Robert Lochhead, of the University of Southern Mississippi, who was unable to attend the annual meeting, but he prerecorded his lecture and received onsite assistance from industry consultant Nick Morante. Lochhead’s presentation detailed how novel makeup formulas have been designed to protect military personnel from burns and wounds caused by improvised explosive devices. These silicone-based formulas protect skin from second-degree burns for as long as 14 seconds—far longer than the four seconds that the US military had requested.

Using film-forming polyesters, Lochhead’s team, which included researchers from SciGenesis, LLC, were able to create a large size (10,000nm) particle that remained substantive to skin. In addition, formulators used an emulsion polymerization process to encapsulate DEET and add it to the makeup.
Lochhead explained that unencapsulated DEET, an insect repellent, acts as fuel when it came in contact with heat from an IED. The end product, which will also have applications as a protective coating for emergency first-responders, is an aesthetically pleasing, conventional makeup product.

Kevin Gallagher and Ciaudelli Award winner Miyuke Miyake.

Two concurrent sessions, one devoted to hair testing and the other on hand health and hygiene, filled the afternoon program on the first day. The hair testing session, moderated by incoming SCC chairman Joseph Dallal of Ashland, featured a presentation on a new hair straightening system by Timothy Gao of Croda Inc., who noted that the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) recently ruled formaldehyde-based hair straighteners as being unsafe. Croda’s new Cystine Hair Smoothing System is formaldehyde-free formula that causes less damage to hair than other straighteners.

Olga Freis of BASF Beauty Care Solutions detailed the benefits of using a shampoo containing Moringa oleifera to reduce damage to hair that is caused by environmental factors such as UV radiation and exhaust fumes. The research team used a variety of techniques, including spectocolorimetric and spectrofluorimetric methods to measure the efficacy of the material.

Of Scalp and Skin

Friday’s program opened with a session on skin and scalp biology, which was moderated by Lintner. Craig Bonda of The Hallstar Company presented the Keynote Award Lecture, sponsored by Ruger Chemical. His presentation was entitled “The photostabilities of selected anti-aging skin care active ingredients.” He explained that vitamin A (retinol or ROH), retinyl palmitate (RP) and trans isomer of resveratrol (t-R), undergo changes to their molecular geometry or structure upon exposure to UV radiation, compromising their effectiveness. Therefore, Bonda asked, how much more effective would these actives be if they are protected from the effects of UV?

In his study, ethyl hexyl methoxycrylene (EHMC), a compound used to photostabilize sunscreen, was selected to stabilize the anti-aging actives. Radiation was provided by a xenon light source whose output was filtered to eliminate wavelengths below 290nm and above 400nm to approximate the solar UV spectrum. UV absorbance was measured by spectrophotometer. Thermal and oxidative effects were determined by HPLC after incubation at 37°C on a collagenous substrate for vitamin A and on glass for resveratrol. All three actives, retinol, retinyl palmitate and trans-resveratrol, were protected from photodegradation by ethylhexyl methoxycrylene, which appears to function at least partly through a singlet quenching mechanism.

Randy Wickett and Merit Award winner Ken Marenus.

Hair loss is due to a variety of factors including genetics, hormonal imbalances, loss of extra-cellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the follicular bed, improper nutrition, stress, diabetes, lupus, chemotherapy, seasonal changes, aging and photo-aging, and localized micro-inflammation. Furthermore it is well established that Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) shortens hair cycle growth, causing follicle miniaturization and producing progressively shorter and finer hair.

Estelle Loing of Unipex Innovations presented a paper on modulating alopecia, using two specific and unique ingredients, Trifolium pretense (red clover) flower extract and acetyl tetrapeptide-3. In a clinical study, this complex accelerated and improved the growth of isolated hair follicles.

Loing noted that people are born with approximately 100,000 hair follicles on the scalp. Male pattern alopecia is generally associated with a shortening of the anagen phase and premature entry in catagen phase. A formula containing 5% of the active complex was clinically tested on the scalp of 30 healthy volunteers with mild to moderate hair loss. After four months, the active complex reduced hair loss and promoted healthy hair growth. This proprietary active complex is believed to act on recessing hair by limiting hormonal influence through inhibition of 5-alpha-reductase activity, preventing aggravation of hair loss due to micro-inflammation. The complex improved follicle anchoring in the bulb, better cell renewal for healthy hair follicle and in follicle miniaturization.

The final session, moderated by Michael Fevola of Johnson & Johnson, was devoted to 21st Century Formulating.

Tatiana Drovetskaya of BASF Corporation looked at the key role UVA filters play in preventing free radical formation and ultimately skin aging. She noted that while the need for UVB protection is well understood, documented and reflected in product labeling, the concept of UVA protection is relatively new, especially in the daily wear market segment. She said that there are four signs of skin damage and aging namely, inflammatory reactions, irregular pigmentation, loss of skin firmness and elasticity and finally skin diseases including skin cancer. According to Drovetskaya, UVA penetrates deeper into the living layers of the skin than UVB and 90% of the UV-induced free radicals in the skin are due to UVA; however, suppressing free radical generation can minimize premature skin aging due to UVA irradiation.

She introduced a concept of radical skin protection factor (RSF) which is equal to the ratio of the numbers of free radicals generated in unprotected, versus protected skin. She established that UVB filters alone do not provide efficient protection against formation of free radicals, and that there is a need for FDA-approved photo-stable organic UVA filters. Her presentation clearly established that photo-stable UVA filters are the key for reliable protection against free radicals. Antioxidants alone are less efficient, but can complement preventive action of UVA filters by stopping radical-chain reactions and scavenging free radicals. Drovetskaya concluded that daily care products, including moisturizers, anti-aging and color cosmetics, would greatly benefit from the incorporation of an effective amount of photostable UVA filters.

Maibach Honored with deNavarre Medal

• Howard I. Maibach, M.D., was honored with the Maison G. deNavarre Medal Award, the Society of Cosmetic Chemists’ highest honor, during the annual meeting. Maibach has conducted human research for more than 40 years in the fields of dermatopharmacology, dermatotoxicology, psoriasis and exogenous dermatoses. He’s published more than 2,500 papers during his career. Ken Marenus, Ph.D., Estée Lauder, received the Society’s Merit Award.

Joseph Dallal Installed as President of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists

• Joseph Dallal of Ashland Specialty Ingredients was installed as president of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists during the business luncheon held in conjunction with the Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting on Dec. 9, 2011. In addition, Guy Padulo, Kobo Products, was installed as vice president and Dawn Burke-Colvin, Mary Kay, was named the vice president-elect. Tony O’Lenick, Siltech, is treasurer and Dawn Thiel Glaser, Glenn, is secretary.